章 22: Exploring the Dungeon as a Test

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As the parties gathered in front of the Dungeon, the teacher began to speak, giving instructions.

"The instructions for this test are quite simple, each party shall bring 20 cores from any defeated monster, although there might be a time when a monster doesn't drop any core, you shall slay them until you manage to find enough. There is a time limit of seven hours, so make sure to hurry up. Your grade will depend on how many Cores you gather. Do not worry, we shall give you back the cores for you to distribute evenly in the party when we judge your progress. Also, you cannot use cores that you already have gathered beforehand, we will be able to tell through special artifacts, so cheating is prohibited," said the teacher.

Some students seemed to have the intention of cheating like this, but their hopes were quickly shattered.

"Alright then, let's do this, killing some E-Rank or F-Rank Monsters will be easy," laughed Fernand, as he grabbed his Magic Sword which began to glow with fire.

The 'Firebrand' family was known to have the ability to wield Fire-related Skills, and Fernand's specialty was to use it on his special Magic Sword, an item specifically crafted to be able to absorb elements and use them to enhance its slashing power.

The parties then began to hop in one by one, with a window of around five minutes per party, the test would start the moment the last party would enter, which was Noah's party.

Crossing through the rift, the five outcasts reached a different scenario than the one they had seen in the caves of the F-Rank Dungeon filled with Goblins.

"A forest…" said Arthur, glancing towards the tall trees erecting towards the sky.

The forest was almost completely covered in trees, which made the light that entered the surface very dim.

There was a slight white mist floating around the forest, and the temperature was rather cold, the 'sun' of this dungeon was barely hitting the ground due to the trees taking most of this sunlight, which made the surface filled with mushrooms, not for consumption and logs, tree branches, and small insects.

It seemed almost like a normal forest in the old earth, as the forests from the new earth after the apocalypse were chaotic places filled with mutated plants and beasts.

Iris quickly made her fox ears pop up from her head, enhancing her auditory senses, while cyclops used its single eye to detect things nearby.

Noah had decided to grab no weapons at all, which had surprised Arthur a bit, but he seemed so confident about it that he did not try to convince him to take one.

Iris was the same and was strangely sticking very near Noah, almost touching him with her shoulders.

Meanwhile, Jon was in I the middle of the group, while Arthur behind and his maid moving his wheelchair through the areas, such wheelchair was specially adapted to be able to slide through many types of terrain, something that might be completely useless as crippled people should not even go to dungeons, to begin with, but that Arthur's rich family gave him the luxury of having.

As Arthur chatted with his maid and Iris about the monsters present in this Dungeon, Noah took the time to check his Attribute Panel.

[Noah]

[Bloodline: Vampire (Awakening)]

[Vitality: 43]

[Mind: 44]

[Force: 36]

[Skill(s): [Blood Progenitor: - (SSS)], [Undying Body: 20 (A)], [Blood Claws: 31 (C)], [Blood Manipulation: 42 (D)], [Blood Projectiles: 25 (D)], [Champion's Great Perseverance: 16 (C)], [Telepathy: 7 (D)]

His stats had increased a bit since yesterday as he have grind a few Cores while Iris was torturing Adamantine, and had managed to get two of his attribute values up to 40 in Vitality and Mind, while his Force was still a bit lower than the rest, it seemed that the Blood Manipulation and Blood Projectiles Skill used Mind for damage calculation, so it made his long-ranged attacks stronger.

He had also acquired the Telepathy Skill just yesterday, it was very useful to discuss things with Iris without others being able to hear them.

"I am still lacking on stats, Fernand has way higher than mine, even with Champions Great Perseverance boost… I need a bit more to crush him…" sighed Noah.

"I've read that the monsters of the Miasma Forests are mostly Walking Mushrooms that can release poisonous spores, so make sure to stick near me so I can heal you if you guys ever get hit with them… And there are also said to be big cats named Shadow Lynxes, that can manipulate shadows to an extent, those are more dangerous, and are qualified as peak F-Rank… We have to react well whenever one appears," said Arthur, he was very informed.

"I see, don't worry, if we all work together… It should be possible," said Noah as he smiled back at Arthur with odd confidence, which Arthur did not remember from the usual bullied Noah.

Even Jon noticed this and also Arthur's maid, but Iris seemed used to this, and oddly close to Noah, making the rest of the group believe that they might be in some kind of secret relationship, or even be a couple.

As the party walked through, noises around bushes emerged, as three creatures leaped out, frantically running towards them with their large root-like feet.

They were Walking Mushrooms, giant living mushrooms with enormous caps atop them, each one had a different color and marks on them.

Although these monsters could be considered to be at the level of the Goblin Warriors or Goblin Mages, they lacked a lot of the goblin's abilities, and their strongest asset, or perhaps the only one was to be able to release toxic spore clouds when they got near a target.

"Grrryarr!"

"Grrooooohh…!"

"Grruuururu…!"

"Arthur-sama, let me handle them!" said Timassa, as she generated an arrow-shaped bolt of lightning, firing it towards the nearest Walking Mushroom!

Zap!

The lightning bolt hit the nearest Walking Mushroom, as it exploded into pieces of mushroom in an instant!

"GRUUOOH!"

However, the other two Walking Mushroom approached the party, jumping towards Jon and Arthur!

Timassa needed her Mana to recharge for a few seconds before using her powerful Bolt Arrow Skill, as she rushed towards the front of Arthur, raising the shield she brought.

"Arthur-sama, I shall protect you!" she said.

Meanwhile, Job barely was holding back the creature while being boosted by Arthur's Skills, he was using a small shield and a short sword, although the Walking Mushroom seemed enraged, as its cap began to inflate, meaning that it would soon release a cloud of toxic spores.

"Grruooh- Geh!"

However, the Walking Mushroom fighting Jon was suddenly stopped on its track, as a slash of crimson light sliced it in half, making it disappear into black smoke instantly while dropping a core into the ground!

"Ah…!" muttered Jon, surprised as it saw Noah in front of him, his hands were covered in some kind of crimson material, shaped as sharp claws.

"GRRRYARR!"

The Mushroom that attacked Timassa suddenly unleashed a barrage of attacks, seemingly being a rare type of monster that possessed more than its base Skill, throwing back the delicate maid who was more oriented at magic!

Clash!

"Nnngaaahh…!"

"Timassa!" cried Arthur, as he conjured a bright yellow light over her faraway body, as the Walking Mushroom jumped towards him!

"GRYHIHIHI!" it laughed maliciously, almost celebrating an easy prey!

Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!

However, in an instant, the Walking Mushroom was showered in slicing attacks, exploding into pieces!

Boom!

"…Eh? Iris?!" asked Arthur in surprise, as Iris showcased her long black nails, which she used as blades to easily slice the monster. Her body was also covered in phantom and a red aura, enhancing her stats a bit more.

"We told you that as long as we are together we will manage," said Noah.

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It has similar genres than Vampire Overlord but it is more about personal growth, the main character changes a lot over time until becoming a ruthless anti-hero! Check it out!